This invention relates generally to the field of utility and similar interconnections, and in particular, to providing ways of simplifying the connection and disconnection of habitable vehicles such as recreational vehicles and houseboats to docking station utility services.
Recreational vehicles, boats, and similar habitable vehicles are widely used throughout the United States and elsewhere. These vehicles enable their users to travel to distant, varied locations, while having available to them many of the comforts of home. These comforts include, but are not limited to, such utility services as hot and cold running potable water, sewage lines for the disposal of non-potable water and waste, electric power, telephone service, cable television, high-speed computer data lines, and a cleaning vacuum. Each of these utility services, of course, needs to be established by interconnecting external service lines with the internal wiring, plumbing, etc. of the habitable vehicle.
It is often the case that the users of a habitable vehicle will wish to set up camp at a given camp site docking station for an extended period of time, but will from time to time leave that location, in their habitable vehicle, to travel for a more limited period of time to another nearby temporary location such as a beach, restaurant, shopping center, etc. Each time the vehicle leaves and later returns to the docking station, it is necessary for the users to disconnect and later reconnect each and every one of these utility service connections. This is a very cumbersome and time-consuming process.
While this problem might be envisioned in terms of a recreational vehicle at a camp site, it is also a problem that applies, for example, to a boat which is docked at a marina overnight, then leaves for the day, and returns for the next night. More generally, this is a problem for any sort of habitable vehicle for which it is necessary to establish a multiplicity of utility connections at a single base location, and to repeatedly disconnect and reconnect these utility connections each and every time the vehicle leaves and returns to this base location.
The prior art discloses numerous varieties of fluidic and electrical connectors, as well as devices incorporating two or more such connectors in parallel. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,869 discloses a pair of plate members enabling xe2x80x9ca plurality of hydraulic and/or electrical couplings connected or disconnected by joining or separating the panel members.xe2x80x9d (abstract) The coupling panel according to this disclosure is used xe2x80x9cfor simultaneously connecting and disconnecting a plurality of fluid and/or electrical conduits, for example, between the engine and cab of a truck.xe2x80x9d (column 1, lines 6-8).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,869, however, does not in any way identify the constant disconnection and reconnection of multiple utility couplings for habitable vehicles as a specific problem requiring resolution, nor is it even remotely suggestive that this is a problem. Further, this disclosure does not teach or suggest its combination with any type of structural components that would enable this invention to be connected with a habitable vehicle and used to alleviate this constant disconnection and the reconnection of multiple utility couplings, since this reference is individually complete by itself and such structural components are not at all necessary. Further, this disclosure does not teach or suggest any form of structure for protecting the various panel couplings from the adverse weather, since this panel, in use, would not be exposed to the elements in the same way as panels used to establish multiple utility connections to a habitable vehicle. Further, this disclosure does not in any way teach or suggest any use of or application to the types of utility conduits that would be necessary to enable human habitation of a habitable vehicle, since these types of conduits are irrelevant to what is needed to connect a truck engine and cab. Finally, this disclosure does not provide any way of maintaining the integrity of electrical, telephone and similar xe2x80x9csignalxe2x80x9d connectors separately from that of potable water connectors, and of these two types of connector separately from sewage connectors, so that, for example, a sewage leak does not contaminate the potable water, or a potable water leak does not short the electrical connection. In this way too, U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,869 is individually complete by itself, and since this reference does not at all deal with utility connections of the type needed to supply, e.g., power, water, and sewage discharge for a habitable vehicle, the need to maintain these connections with separate integrity from one another would be unnecessary and irrelevant as regards U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,869.
In short, problem faced by habitable vehicle owners of constantly disconnecting and reconnecting multiple utility couplings is completely unrecognized by U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,869. This reference is individually complete and functional in and of itself, so there would be no reason to add any components enabling the panel of this reference to be used for the disconnection and reconnection of multiple utility couplings for habitable vehicles.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,614,538; 4,133,021; 4,519,657; 4,785,376; 4,873,600 and U.S. Pat. No. Re. 31,359 all disclose various mounting pedestals for utilities, and are examples of types of fixed docking stations used to provide multiple utility services to habitable vehicles stationed at a camp site, marina, etc. But these references do not disclose or suggest any way to easily and repeatedly disconnect and reconnect a habitable vehicle with the utility services provided by these mounting pedestals. Nor do they even identify the need to repeatedly disconnect and reconnect a habitable vehicle to these docking station utility services as a problem. Nor do they in any way disclose or suggest a combination with the teachings of, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,869 in order to resolve this unidentified problem. Finally, because U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,614,538; 4,519,657; 4,785,376; 4,873,600; and U.S. Pat. No. Re. 31,359 all deal particularly with the issue of delivering multiple utility services to a camp site, marina, etc., the inventors thereof would certainly have had ample opportunity to identify the repeated disconnection and interconnection of habitable vehicles to these utility services as a problem, and would have had ample opportunity to make suggestions regarding the resolution of this problem. Yet they did not do so.
Another example of a composite multi connector is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,064. This reference also, does not in any way disclose or suggest that the repeated disconnection and reconnection of habitable vehicles with docking station utility services is a problem. Nor does it disclose or suggest any way of solving this problem. Nor would it be necessary this reference to do so, since it is fully complete in and of itself.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,399 discloses an outlet module xe2x80x9cfor making connection to various electrical systems such as power, telephone, computer systems, television antenna etc.xe2x80x9d (abstract) This patent, however, also does not disclose or suggest how to establish and terminate all of these interconnections, simultaneously and repeatedly, in a simple manner. Nor does it in any way disclose or suggest that the repeated disconnection and reconnection of habitable vehicles with such utility services is a problem. Nor does it disclose or suggest any combination with a reference such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,869 in order to resolve this unidentified problem. Further, because of the configuration of this outlet module, it would in fact be impossible or extremely difficult to achieve such a simplification of disconnection and reconnection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,128 discloses a docking module used to facilitate xe2x80x9cconversion of a portable computer between a lap-top mode of operation and a desk-top mode of operation by permitting simultaneous attachment of the computer to a plurality of electrical connectors thereby ease eliminating the need for individual cable connections between the computer and the respective individual apparatus.xe2x80x9d (abstract) This reference, however, is non-analogous prior art, since it is from a very different technical field. Further, it does not in any way disclose or suggest that the repeated disconnection and reconnection of habitable vehicles with docking station utility services is a problem. Nor does it disclose or suggest any application of its teachings to this unidentified problem of habitable vehicle utility connection.
It would be desirable, therefore, for the user of a habitable vehicle to be able to disconnect the multiple docking station utility services provided to this vehicle all at once when the vehicle is ready to temporarily leave its docking station at, e.g., a camp site, marina, etc., and to reconnect these docking station utility services all at once when the vehicle returns to the docking station, without having to reestablish each and every utility connection individually. While the connection and disconnection of each distinct utility service is still necessary at the beginning and at the end of a vacation or similar excursion based primarily at the docking station, it would certainly be desirable to avoid having to make this multiplicity of utility connections and disconnections for each and every coming and going of the habitable vehicle to and from the docking station throughout the entire vacation or similar excursion.
It is also desirable to protect any connectors used for this purpose from damaging exposure to weather.
It would also be desirable to maintain any connectors used for this purpose in a manner that maintains their integrity, and in particular, ensures that a leak from or damage to any one connector does not damage any of the other connectors or their connections.
A habitable vehicle utility docking apparatus comprises a fixed-half quick connect panel fixed to a habitable vehicle such as a recreational vehicle or a boat, and a removable-half quick connect panel matable therewith. The fixed-half quick connect panel maintains a permanent pre-connection to utilities inside the habitable vehicle. The removable-half quick connect panel is connected via commonly-used hoses and wires to external docking station utility services at a campsite, marina, etc. docking station. When the removable-half quick connect panel is so-connected to such external docking station utility services, and when it is also mated to fixed-half quick connect panel, these docking station utility services are supplied to the habitable vehicle. The preferred method of use is to disconnect removable-half quick connect panel from fixed-half quick connect panel while leaving all the external utility connections intact when the habitable vehicle is about to leave the docking station temporarily, and to later reattach these panels together thereby reestablishing all the utility connections to the habitable vehicle when the vehicle does return. This avoids the time and inconvenience of having to make a multiplicity of utility connections and disconnections for each and every coming and going of the habitable vehicle to and from the docking station.